A major disaster was narrowly averted on Friday morning when a Dhaka-bound passenger bus rolled off a pontoon at the Daulatdia Ferry Terminal and plunged into the Padma River in Goalanda upazila of Rajbari.

Crucially, no casualties or missing persons have been reported, as the vehicle was completely empty at the time of the plunge.

According to Goalanda Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sathi Das, the incident involved an 'SB Paribahan' bus operating from Kushtia. The vehicle lost control and sank into the river from terminal-7 at approximately 9:25 am.

UNO Sathi Das, who rushed directly to the scene upon receiving the alert, confirmed that a potential tragedy was avoided due to standard safety precautions taken by the passengers.

"All the passengers got down from the bus before it approached the pontoon," UNO Sathi Das stated. "There is no report of any casualty."

She further noted that local authorities have not received any missing person complaints following the incident.

While the passengers were safely ashore, the bus driver and his helpers were inside the vehicle when it went down.

They were quickly pulled from the water with the assistance of local residents and have been transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Following the accident, emergency services acted swiftly to locate and extract the vehicle.

The specialized rescue vessel Hamza was immediately dispatched and rushed to the terminal to begin salvage operations for the sunken bus.

While this incident resulted in no loss of life, it has sparked immediate safety concerns among locals due to a devastating and remarkably similar accident that occurred at the exact same ferry terminal just months earlier.

On March 25, 2026, another passenger bus carrying approximately 40 people rolled off the pontoon and plunged into the powerful currents of the Padma River, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least 26 people.